Apple features Clumsy Ninja as first iOS App Store title with a video preview
After years of requests from third party developers, Apple has included the first video preview of an app within the App Store: a minute long "trailer" promoting featured app Clumsy Ninja.
Spotted by Federico Viticci of Mac Stories, the new video preview (above) currently appears only in a special "Featured" section of the UK iTunes App Store; the standard page for the game, which was previously featured by Apple during its iPhone 5 launch last year, does not yet include the video.
The newly released Clumsy Ninja title, created by NaturalMotion, uses "Euphoria" simulation technology to present a malleable character that features realistic, "rag doll" physics.
"Train him, throw him, tickle him, and even tie balloons to him. Everything you do will make Clumsy Ninja more skillful, and help him find his missing friend, Kira," the games description states.
Videos are particularly useful for demonstrating innovative gameplay or app interfaces that make use of Apple's animation and motion-related interface frameworks.
Viticci noted that with the release of iOS 7's dynamic new user interface, "the lack of videos on the App Store was particularly surprising, and it led many to wonder as to whether Apple would soon add support for videos besides screenshots."
At the same time, Apple manages massive traffic in the App Store, and faces formidable expense and challenges in curating videos for the roughly 1 billion apps it catalogues, a task that would include reviewing about two man-years of video, subsequently responding to content complaints and a tremendous expansion of video hosting capacity.
The appearance of the new video indicates that Apple is at least experimenting with video previews of software, and may soon enable developers to begin showing off their work in the App Store with video previews.
Spotted by Federico Viticci of Mac Stories, the new video preview (above) currently appears only in a special "Featured" section of the UK iTunes App Store; the standard page for the game, which was previously featured by Apple during its iPhone 5 launch last year, does not yet include the video.
The newly released Clumsy Ninja title, created by NaturalMotion, uses "Euphoria" simulation technology to present a malleable character that features realistic, "rag doll" physics.
"Train him, throw him, tickle him, and even tie balloons to him. Everything you do will make Clumsy Ninja more skillful, and help him find his missing friend, Kira," the games description states.
Video previews for Apps
Despite currently being limited to just one Editor's Choice game, the Clumsy Ninja video preview offers new hope to developers that Apple may finally allow them to promote their titles in the App Store with more than just text, static graphics and screen shots.Videos are particularly useful for demonstrating innovative gameplay or app interfaces that make use of Apple's animation and motion-related interface frameworks.
Viticci noted that with the release of iOS 7's dynamic new user interface, "the lack of videos on the App Store was particularly surprising, and it led many to wonder as to whether Apple would soon add support for videos besides screenshots."
At the same time, Apple manages massive traffic in the App Store, and faces formidable expense and challenges in curating videos for the roughly 1 billion apps it catalogues, a task that would include reviewing about two man-years of video, subsequently responding to content complaints and a tremendous expansion of video hosting capacity.
The appearance of the new video indicates that Apple is at least experimenting with video previews of software, and may soon enable developers to begin showing off their work in the App Store with video previews.
Comments
Yes, YT has bad ones, but these are not app review videos.
In the 2nd to last paragraph "...roughly 1 billion apps..." should be 1 million.
I think he means reviewing the app himself to get a feel for the game play before committing to it.
Competition would call it copying. They had it years ago.
He wants it to be a billion.
This is very welcome news. Videos should allow consumers to make better informed purchasing decisions. That in turn should lead to less money wasted on bad apps and more money spent on good apps.
Hopefully the DEFAULT is "click to start" or this is going to be another looping bit of nonsense I'll have to disable.
Advertisers have to learn restraint and not to annoy to deploy.
All very nice in principle but in practice it doesn't work - latest MacOS latest iTunes . . .
I downloaded this app, it looked like fun and I thought the rag doll effects would really let my A7 stretch it's legs.
"Clumsy Ninja would like to send you push notifications"
*cancel*
"Clumsy Ninja would like to access your Twitter account"
*cancel*
"Please create a nickname for public leaderboards"
*cancel*
"Please create a nickname for public leaderboards"
*cancel*
"Please create a nickname for public leaderboards"
Close app, delete.
Freakin' annoying those devs, wanting all this, and not taking any 'no' for an answer.
Freakin' annoying those devs, wanting all this, and not taking any 'no' for an answer.
Well, with some apps it becomes clear at a certain point that the price of playing is going to be your privacy.
Good point. So, basically, they're pulling a Samsung by doing a Google.
We’re going to need our own dictionary of thieves’ lingo. This feels to me like the names of the heists in the Ocean’s series, and frankly I’m fine with that.
Yes, there needs to be a new word, the definition of which is "a company whose primary source of revenue is selling customer's personal information."
Yes, there needs to be a new word, the definition of which is "a company whose primary source of revenue is selling customer's personal information."
F***ing a**holes is a good word for it.
Dumb a**es are a good name for peeps who let them
Let’s see, run the gamut here…
Information Vendor
Privacy Peddler
Breachist
Data Pimp
I actually think we could do here what I did with ‘Samsung’ earlier. Meanings of words evolve and expand. No reason that by the end of the decade someone couldn’t say, “What’s this about you googling my address?” “I needed rent money, man.” “I’ve been getting ten pounds of mail a day, you filthy googler!”